Johnson v. Commonwealth

George Johnson, III (Johnson or defendant) was convicted by a jury of robbery and his punishment was fixed at a term of 20 years in the penitentiary. He was sentenced accordingly by the trial court.

The evidence establishes that Johnson and Richard Morris entered an office of the Portsmouth Gas Company on the afternoon of February 6,1973. Morris, armed with a pistol, seized Mrs. Betty Lou Cherry, a saleslady employed by the gas company, who was near the front of the salesroom-office, and forced her to accompany the robbers to the cashier’s office at the rear of the salesroom-office. Mrs.…